Dems want to ditch Biden in 2024, poll shows

WASHINGTON — A majority of Democrats now think one term is plenty for President Joe Biden, despite his insistence that he plans to seek reelection in 2024.

That’s according to a new poll from The Associated PRESSNORC Center for Public Affairs Research that shows just 37 percent of Democrats say they want him to seek a second term, down from 52 percent in the weeks before last year’s midterm elections.

While Biden has trumpeted his legislative victories and ability to govern, the poll suggests relatively few U.S. adults give him high marks on either. Follow-up interviews with poll respondents suggest that many believe the 80-year-old’s age is a liability, with people focused on his coughing, his gait, his gaffes and the possibility that the world’s most stressful job would be better suited for someone younger.

“I, honestly, think that he would be too old,” said Sarah Overman, 37, a Democrat who works in education in North Carolina. “We could use someone younger in the office.”

As the president gives his State of the Union address today, he has a chance to confront fundamental doubts about his competence to govern. Biden has previously leaned heavily on his track record to say that he’s more than up to the task. When asked if he can handle the office’s responsibilities at his age, the president has often responded as if he’s accepting a dare: “Watch me.”

Democratic candidates performed better than expected in the 2022 midterm elections, a testament to Biden’s message that he is defending democracy and elevating the middle class. Democrats expanded their control of the Senate by one seat and narrowly lost their House majority even though history indicated there would be a Republican wave.

When asked about the survey’s findings at Monday’s news briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-pierre indicated that the results in last year’s election mattered more than polling numbers.

“The way that we should look at this is what we saw from the midterms,” said Jean-pierre, noting that the relative Democratic successes were “because the president went out there and spoke directly to the American people.”

Overall, 41 percent approve of how Biden is handling his job as president, the poll shows. A majority of Democrats still approve of the job Biden is doing as president, yet their appetite for a reelection campaign has slipped despite his electoral track record. Only 22 percent of U.S. adults overall say he should run again, down from 29 percent who said so before last year’s midterm elections.

The decline among Democrats appears concentrated among younger people. Among Democrats age 45 and over, 49 percent say Biden should run for reelection, nearly as many as the 58 percent who said that in October. But among those under age 45, 23 percent now say he should run for reelection, after 45 percent said that before the midterms.

But the key obstacle for Biden might be voters such as Vikram Joglekar, 46, who works in the computer industry in Austin. He backed the president in 2020, only to summarize his feelings about Biden’s time in office as “meh.”

“It’s not up for me to decide whether someone should run or not,” Joglekar said. “I don’t know who is going to be on the ballot, but I would hope it would be someone better from his party.”